A singles tournament was held in Kanagawa Prefecture to qualify for the Paris Olympics table tennis, and Junsuke Togami defeated Tomokazu Harimoto 4-3 to win the men's final.
The selection of the table tennis team Japan for the Paris Olympics will be determined by the ranking of selection points earned in domestic and overseas competitions, and the selection race will be in full swing with twice as many points earned from this tournament held in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The men's final was the same as the final of the All Japan Championship held in January between Togami, who finished third in the selection points so far, and Harimoto, who finished first in the selection points so far.
In the first game, Togami dropped to 2-3 with Harimoto's signature backhand and slow attack, but in the second and third games, he attacked at a fast pace and scored a powerful forehand to take an 1-1 and 1-8 lead.
After that, the game went up and down, and the game count was 11-2 going into the final game of the seventh game. In this game, the two sides did not concede the game, and from a 3-11 tie, Togami hit a powerful shot to score five consecutive points to take an 6-11 lead and win the game count 5-3 to win the championship.
Togami, who defeated Harimoto in the final following the All Japan Championship to move up to second place in the selection points, said after the match, "My selection points have doubled since this tournament, and the pressure on me has doubled, but I am relieved to win the championship because I was confident that if I can maximize my performance, I will be successful in the Japan. I want to come back with a medal in singles at the World Championships," he said, looking ahead to the World Championships in South Africa from late May.